Albion head coach Graham Potter is glad that Ben White is their player as he prepares to return to Elland Road for the first time since his loan spell ended.

The 23-year-old spent last season at Leeds, where he made 49 appearances in all competitions and helped them to win promotion to the Premier League.

White was the subject of several bids from Marcelo Bielsa’s side over the summer as they looked to try and secure a permanent deal.

However, the Seagulls turned them down and maintained he was not for sale throughout.

Since then, White has gone on to play in 17 of Albion’s 18 Premier League games so far this season.

It has been a week of familiar surroundings for the centre back after he returned to face another of his former sides Newport County in the FA Cup on Sunday, where he was on loan in 2017/18.

It was a happy return that night for White as Albion won.

He will be hoping for a similar result tomorrow afternoon when he returns to Yorkshire.

But Potter is relieved that White is with them as Albion go in search of a much-needed win to lift them further away from the bottom three.

He said: “Ben has had a week where he has gone back to two of his old clubs.

“He can be proud of his time at Leeds, he helped them, and they helped him, and it was a perfect loan.

“Ben speaks so highly of everyone at Leeds United and has got respect for how they helped him and how they progressed his career, so it was a fantastic time for him.

“But he is our player now, and I am sure he will want to get the points against them.”

Potter will once again do battle with Marcelo Bielsa.

The Argentinian has managed to win promotion to the top flight and guide his side to 12th in the table in just under two years at the club.

On the two occasions that Potter came up against Bielsa when he was at Swansea, he drew one and lost one.

But he was full of admiration for the job that Bielsa has done.

He said: “He’s has done an amazing job.

“It is a massive club, and they have been disappointing for a long time, so getting back in the Premier League was not easy.

“But they have done it and done it well.

“They are now bringing their own game to the Premier League, which is a credit to him and everybody there.

“So, it is going to be a tough game.”

The game against Leeds brings to an end what has been a tough week for Albion, in which they have played three games in the space of six days.

However, Potter knows they will have to match Leeds every step of the way.

He said: “Leeds are physically amazing. They run so much, fight so much.

“We have to match that, be smart, and play against another good team.”

The Seagulls will be hoping to make it consecutive defeats to Sussex sides for Leeds after they were beaten 3-0 by Crawley in the FA Cup third round last weekend.

However, they have been handed a triple injury boost ahead of the game.

That is after Bielsa confirmed that Diego Llorente, Tyler Roberts, and Liam Cooper are all available to face the Seagulls.

Kalvin Phillips will be their only absentees as he serves a one-match ban after picking up his fifth booking of the season in their 3-0 defeat to Tottenham at the start of the month.